Howitzer Debuts To Rave Reviews

FORT PICKETT — A Hampton-based Army National Guard unit has fallen in love with its newest weapon of choice: a 2-ton lovely that stands more than 7 feet tall.

Her explosive punch adjusts for the wind, the temperature and the Earth's curve, and it reaches more than eight miles.

Meet the M119A2 105 mm howitzer, the focal point of a live-fire training exercise Tuesday at Fort Pickett, southwest of Richmond.

Precision-guided missile strikes and other "smart" weapons grab the headlines, but members of the Virginia National Guard say artillery still plays a valuable, albeit changing role as the sweeping battles of past generations give way to smaller firefights in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The hardscrabble terrain at Fort Pickett, populated with copperheads and ticks, has also been home to the 1st Battalion, 111th Field Artillery Regiment since April 18, when it began two weeks of annual training. The training ends Friday, and the live-fire exercise was clearly a highlight - their first such drill in two years.

It is time to get things right, gain some experience, and enjoy blowing things up.

"We want to make sure they do everything safely," said Lt. Col. Todd Hubbard. "The second thing is, we want them to be confident in their ability to shoot."

The adrenaline often starts pumping during multiple-round missions, where several howitzers go off in succession.

"These guys will get so excited, and they're jumping up and down and hooping and hollering, it's like the end of a game," said Hubbard, Daily Press circulation manager.

The weapon appears to be a real hit with the troops.

Spc. Reginald Williams, of Newport News, an assistant gunner, finds it a welcome diversion from his day job of selling real estate and insurance.

"I like it," he said, eyeing the gun.

Hubbard, the battalion commander, said the new howitzers are part of a larger effort in the Army to bring new equipment to units such as the 1st Battalion, which is part of the 116th Brigade Combat Team.

Hubbard said the brigade was the first such unit in the nation to start receiving new equipment under the program. The howitzers might be its most impressive addition.

"In 29 years, I have worked on every artillery piece there is," said Command Sgt. Maj. Ronald M. Howell Sr. of Spring Grove. "This one here has a little bit of a further range. It's new to me, and I like new challenges."

But for all its technological advances - the new howitzer has a lot more moving parts - some principles of artillery haven't changed, he said.

The care of ammunition is still important, as is regular maintenance. Howell nodded approvingly as he watched a guardsman spray lubricant on the weapon.

"You gotta clean it to keep it functioning," he said. "When they need it, we gotta send it."

"Sending it" is a complex process of relaying information from observers to soldiers sitting at laptops. The final "aim" accounts for a variety of factors, including the earth's curve.

That data leads to greater accuracy, which is why the guardsman say artillery remains a relevant weapon, especially in the more wide-open terrain of Afghanistan.

It plays a valuable role in air strikes, for example.

"Basically," said Hubbard, "we're shooting to keep the bad guy's heads down while the aircraft is going in and coming out."

ONLINE EXTRA: Online Extra To see a photo gallery of the howitzer in action, go to daily press.com/national guard